Investigations conducted by the Department of Labor recovered over $600,000 in back wages for 227 individuals working on a Valley Metro Light Rail extension project.
Officials discovered several subcontractors involved with the project violated federal laws by misclassifying workers. This led to employees receiving significantly lower wages and benefits. In many of the cases, skilled workers were misclassified as common or general laborers.
Elsie Darcy is with the Department of Labor.
“These investigations with the Wage and Hour Division occurred with a complaint. And additionally, they also happened as we were looking at projects in the area with federal funds that are being paid into them,” she said.
According to Darcy, some of the employers have had previous violations for underpaying workers. A majority of the workers have been paid or are in the process of being paid.
